A typical electronic discovery (“eDiscovery”) project may require a substantial amount of processing work. In eDiscovery projects, processing work originates from running specialized jobs such as performing keyword searches, analyzing correspondence for communication patterns, etc. A conventional system configured to process work from eDiscovery projects may include several secondary computers, each of which has capabilities to run particular types of specialized jobs. Such a conventional system also includes a main computer which (i) receives a command to perform processing work from a client and (ii) runs a scheduler which, in response to the receipt of the command, controls how the processing work is distributed to the computers.
One type of scheduler is an active scheduler which, upon receipt of a command to perform processing work, distributes the processing work directly to the secondary computers according to their capabilities. Another type of scheduler is a passive scheduler which places a command to perform processing work in a pool. When the main computer runs a passive scheduler, each secondary computer in the system performs processing work described in commands in the pool based on its capabilities, passing over processing work of which it is not capable.
Within the conventional system, when a secondary computer completes processing work, the main computer notifies the client that the processing work is completed.